1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical wiring devices and, more particularly, is concerned with a multiple outlet receptacle incorporating a circuit breaker and continuity switch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A multiple outlet receptacle, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,799 to Wiley and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, has four outlets to permit four electrical appliances to be plugged in at one receptacle location. The receptacle may be used, for example, for office lighting applications where it would normally be installed in a ceiling recess fixture, such as an outlet box or concrete ring, or some other surface mounting. The receptacle is designed to have a shallow body of molded insulating material with an integral mounting flange at the rear edges of the body. Internal contact elements of the four outlets are located within respective quadrants of the housing portion of the body. A front face of the housing portion has four sets of plug blade receiving apertures for communicating with the internal contact elements of the four outlets. A rear closing plate of insulating material is configured to fit within the back edge of the housing portion substantially flush with the mounting flange and provides a substantially planar rear surface for the entire unit.
In the exemplary receptacle of the Wiley patent, first and second conductive plates are provided that rest within the housing portion of the receptacle body. The first conductive plate is configured as a ring and is located near the periphery of the unit while the second conductive plate is configured to fit within the first plate and can be made from the same piece of starting material as the first plate. The first and second plates respectively support first and second groups of internal contact elements for the corresponding four outlets. The first and second groups of internal contact elements extend forwardly and are aligned with corresponding arrays of plug apertures in the front face. For a grounding receptacle, a third conductive plate is provided, being located on the outside rear surface of the rear closing plate. The third conductive plate supports a third group of internal contact elements for the corresponding four outlets. The third group of internal contact elements extend through apertures in the closing plate.
The multiple outlet receptacle of the aforementioned patent has been successful in providing a compact, reliable, attractive, and easy-to-use unit, particularly in a surface mounting arrangement. This multiple outlet receptacle has been further improved by the incorporation of the features disclosed in the patent applications cross-referenced above. However, it has been perceived by the inventor herein that, with respect to the above-described multiple outlet receptacle, a need still exists for additional improvement in order to provide protection for circuits connected to the multiple outlets of the receptacle.